Characterisation of materials
One of the main issues of rheology is the definition and classification of
materials. Normal glass, for instance, is usually defined as a solid material,
but if the thickness of an old church window is measured from top to
bottom, a difference will be noted. Glass does, in fact, flow like a liquid,
albeit very slowly.
One way of characterising a material is by its relaxation time, i.e. the time
required to reduce a stress in the material by flow. Typical magnitudes of
relaxation times for materials are:
Gases 102 seconds
Another way of defining materials rheologically is by the terms viscous,
elastic or viscoelastic. Gases and liquids are normally described as viscous
fluids. By definition an ideal viscous fluid is unable to store any deformation
energy. Hence, it is irreversibly deformed when subjected to stress; it flows
and the deformation energy is dissipated as heat, resulting in a rise of
temperature.
Solids, on the other hand, are normally described as elastic materials. An
ideal elastic material stores all imposed deformation energy and will
consequently recover totally upon release of stress. A viscous fluid can
therefore be described as a fluid which resists the act of deformation rather
than the state of deformation, while an elastic material resists the act as well
as the state of deformation.
A number of materials show viscous as well as elastic properties, i.e.
they store some of the deformation energy in their structure, while some is
lost by flow. These materials are called viscoelastic; there are many
examples among foodstuffs such as starch-based puddings, mayonnaise
and tomato purées.